Highland Instruments was founded in 2007 by researchers trained at Harvard Medical School and MIT. International clinical trials with ESStim™ proved the company's novel therapy for noninvasively stimulating the nervous system via electrosonic fields.

Today Highland is developing ESStim™ technology to treat OA patients suffering from chronic pain. Chronic pain of OA is characterized by a phenomenon known as central sensitization, whereby the brain adapts to become more receptive to pain signals generated in the periphery. Highland is focused on implementing ESStim™ to noninvasively treat patients suffering from chronic osteoarthritis pain by stimulating their brain and blocking the processing of the pain signal and central sensitization.